


Memories

by myladyriver



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, reference to past child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 03:33:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1803760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myladyriver/pseuds/myladyriver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In her traumatized, suffering state, Bellatrix was unable to defend her mind, and instead sought solace in the only safe place she knew. As Hermione tried to get between Bellatrix and the pain, and Bellatrix tried to retreat into Hermione, an unprecedented merging occurred between the two witches. A sob was wrenched from Hermione’s chest as she absorbed all of Bellatrix’s agony -- the searing of every nerve ending in her body from a powerful, sadistic Cruciatus Curse, as well as the blinding fear and emotional trauma of a child who’d been abused for years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories

Bellatrix’s gasped at the pain of the flashback hit her, the memory of the Cruciatus Curse as agonizing as it had been when she was a child. Her knees gave out and she collapsed into a heap of trembles and twitches on Hermione’s living room floor. Eyes wide with helpless fear for her lover, Hermione threw herself off the sofa and toward Bellatrix’s shaking form. A low whimper escaped from between Bella’s lips, which were pursed with the effort of containing tormented screams. Hermione dropped to the floor beside Bellatrix. She recognized the symptoms of her partner’s nightmares, and though she had no idea how they were plaguing Bellatrix while awake, she only knew one way of comforting her. Without a moment’s hesitation or second though, Hermione efficiently moved Bellatrix so she was lying flat on her back, with her arms to the side and her legs parted. She then arranged herself into a deeply familiar position; her lower half was settled between Bellatrix’s legs, her arms encompassed Bella’s upper body, and her head rested on her diaphragm.

“Ssh, it’s okay baby, you’re all right, I swear. You’re safe, I promise, it’s okay, I’m here. Please Bella, it’s all right, it’s not happening any more, it’s all in the past!” Hermione murmured soothingly, pleading with her, begging for her to be released from the memory that was literally torturing her. Hermione pressed her body more firmly against Bellatrix’s, shaping her contours to those of Bella’s. She felt every spasm of pain that racked the body below her; she had never been more desperate to bring Bellatrix back out of the darkness. Hermione’s mind pushed out toward Bellatrix’s automatically, seeking to comfort her, to shoulder her pain. In her traumatized, suffering state, Bellatrix was unable to defend her mind, and instead sought solace in the only safe place she knew. As Hermione tried to get between Bellatrix and the pain, and Bellatrix tried to retreat into Hermione, an unprecedented merging occurred between the two witches. A sob was wrenched from Hermione’s chest as she absorbed all of Bellatrix’s agony -- the searing of every nerve ending in her body from a powerful, sadistic Cruciatus Curse, as well as the blinding fear and emotional trauma of a child who’d been abused for years.

Bellatrix panted for breath, left barely conscious by the force of the prolonged Cruciatus. Her hands were still quivering, her heart was still pounding far too fast in her chest, and her eyes were still closed. It was several minutes later that she was able to struggle back into full awareness, forcing her eyes open. With a startled gasp, Bellatrix discovered that Hermione was on top of her, clinging to her emaciated frame for dear life. As her senses returned one by one, Bellatrix felt Hermione’s tears soaking through her black tank-top, and was shocked to realize that she was crying.

It was with further alarm that she noticed that Hermione was shaking, her muscles rigid with pain. Flashes of her own torture from moments before raced through Bellatrix’s mind, and her heart broke with the realization that somehow, impossible though it was, Hermione must have drawn Bella’s pain into herself. _It’s too much!_ Bellatrix though frantically. _It’s too much for her to take, she’s never experience anything of this magnitude -- not to mention the psychological and emotional damage...!!!_

Carefully sitting up, Bellatrix gathered the young woman in her arms and held her tightly, rubbing wide, heavy circles over her back and burying her face in Hermione’s soft curls. She rocked her young lover as she whispered in her ear, imploring her to come back, to let go of the pain, to just _come back to me. Why would she do this?_ Bellatrix screamed silently. _Why would she try to take on this kind of agony for me, she should never have..._ The immensity of what Hermione had done assailed Bellatrix as she tried to calm the weeping woman she cradled against her chest.

“Please,” she whispered urgently, “come _back_ to me, Hermione.” And then, as if she had heard Bella through the walls of wailing memories and suffering, Hermione came to. There was one final, violent convulsion, and then she was still, curled against Bellatrix’s diminutive, shapely form.

“Oh, Bella,” Hermione cried, her voice muffled against Bellatrix’s chest and her fingers clutching at Bellatrix’s back. Bellatrix adjusted her grip on her, wrapping her legs around Hermione as well as her arms, until Bella was entwined securely around the trembling witch. She gently ran her bony fingers through Hermione’s tangled mess of tawny curls.

“I know,” Bellatrix murmured, her voice cracking with aching sorrow -- sorrow for her own past, and for the woman she held in her arms. “I know.”


End file.
